Shonali: I hope Bigg Boss will give my career a boost

Model, actress and IPL host, Shonali Nagrani, has survived many evictions from the Bigg Boss house in the past, but not this time. She was nominated alongside Amar Upadhyay and was the one who got the boot.

Shonali has had fights with the other housemates and was blamed by them for being a gossip. Every day she would dance to the tune of the wake-up song, unable to resist flaunting her trademark hip-shaking moves.

Shonali has mixed feelings about leaving the show.

"I wanted to stay longer in the house, may be for one more week. I was really having a good time so I was little disappointed." Then in the same breath she says, "I am glad that I am out because I can celebrate my birthday with my family and close friends on December 20."

"After 75 days in the house, I discovered a lot of new things about myself. I learnt to tackle situations and also cried a lot because there was so much of negativity around," Shonali said.

Where did the negative vibes come from?

"Pooja Missra, Mahek Chahel, Sky, Pooj Bedi and Amar," she replies promptly. "I can't exactly say why I was uncomfortable, but there was some discomfort when they were around."

What about her complaint that Amar had made advances towards her?

She quickly clarifies, "I had my reasons that were playing on my mind, but I couldn't make up my mind and tell Amar. I agree it was my mistake, and I should have told him then and there, before it budded. He got to know about it through his wife when she entered the house. But being a girl, there was some uneasiness to confront him.

"I don't want to talk about this issue now because he is a family man and I respect that."

She says Amar has "hurt a lot of people with his mind games. I don't think highly of people who were playing games. He is completely the opposite of his reel image, Mihir (the iconic character in the popular TV serial Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi)."

Shonali was seen hanging out with Sidharth Bharadwaj and he would seek her out whenever he was in trouble. The two seemed to be bonding so well on the show that Pooja Missra accused Shonali of having double standards because she complained of Amar, while sharing some close moments with Sidharth, despite having a boyfriend.

"Sidharth was on top of Pooja's hate list and I was second because I was his friend. She couldn't hate Andrew (Symonds) for supporting Sid because she was his translator. She doesn't have any credibility so I don't care what she says. It really doesn't make any difference to me," Shonali replies.

"I knew Sid much before I came on this show, so there was some comfort level. He was more like my younger brother who is studying in Australia. They have so much in common. Sid was nice to me and I trusted him the most in the house and his friendship is precious to me."

The only ones she would like to remain friends with after the show, she says are Laxmi, Vida, Raageshwari, Sid and Juhi Parmar.

She blames the men for the deterioration in the show. "Ever since male contestants entered the show, the surroundings of the show turned negative. All the time there were clashes of male egos and it was all about repulsiveness and dishonesty."

Is it more likely that a male housemate will win out in the end? 

"No. I really want a woman contestant to win the show. It has to be a female because all the other contestants have entered the house after a few weeks. Juhi is the only contestant who is there since the inception of the show. She is honest, dignified, has tackled the problems wisely and deserves to win."

And, finally, what will be the lasting impact of Bigg Boss?

"I hope the visibility on the show will give my career a boost. But right now, I want to go outdoors and chill out for two weeks."